tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Dec 05 08:12:24 1999
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Re: qISmaS
> Any reasonably complete explanation of Christmas would be very long in
> Klingon. It's very long in English, for that matter. Entire animated
> films and live-action miniseries have been dedicated to that task. If
> you just want to explain why the streets are decorated and everyone is
> going around whistling "Silver Bells", one word suffices: {yupma'}.
> Anything more starts to get into lots of cultural details that aren't
> necessarily important, and likely aren't even universal.
Perhaps I was hinting at a Diane Duane-ish type of thought, where Terrans encountered the Rihannsu
and then not only chose the name of this new race based on some arbitrary Terran legend/myth based
on Romus and Remus, but they then compounded the silliness by botching the name and thus we had
Romulus and Remus. From there, the jump to Romulans was a short jump. I believe the term for Vulcan
had a similar, silly history. And although Diane did attribute a distaste for misnaming to the
Romulans, neither Terrans nor Klingons have ever had such a thing attributed to them (that I have
seen).
And of course not only Terrans would do this; it is reasonable to assume that a Klingon term may not
have taken great care to have a totally accurate term. In fact a term such as {yupma'} may be
perfect for this sort of context, where a scholar would have coined the term after some Terran went
on and on about Christmas rituals.
Perhaps the advantage of a "created" language like tlhIngan-Hol is that it is purer in this regard.
But by having such a viewpoint taken to some translated words, a more accurate picture of the
Klingons themselves could be developed?
Michael